Early Morning Sunshine

This morning I got up early, took my camera and went up to Filopappou hill. That's one of the hills opposite the Akropolis. I arrived a bit before sunrise, which is late here, due to the Ymittos hills covering the horizon in the east. I'd been there in the morning some days ago already, so I knew more or less which pictures I wanted to take.

One of them was the coastline and Pireus in the first rays of the morning light. As I took these pictures on film and as the film isn't developed yet, all I can show you right now is this documentary shot from my mobile phone.

This one is from some days before. I had set up my tripod and camera even a bit earlier and waited out the sunrise, with a view on the Akropolis and Lycabettus hill.

I made a couple of exposures with different stages of the sun coming up. I also moved the camera once, since while waiting I decided that from a bit further to the left I'd get a better cut of the city from above between the trees in the foreground.

Taking pictures with this camera (an old Arca-Swiss, with a lens from 1967) takes some discipline (lots of ways that one can spoil the end result) and patience. I enjoy the process, it was nice standing there, watching the day grow ever lighter. There is also an amount of uncertainty - I have no results yet and can only hope that I did everything right and the pictures come out ok. If they will be worth it or good enough... that is another question.